Ocean City Gift Show

Well, I didn't have any luck finding a ladybug umbrella, or a ladybug lamp, but I did find some other very cool ladybug gifts. Including, a ladybug photo album, a ladybug diaper bag, a ladybug lunch box, a ladybug purse, a ladybug water coozie, and best of all ladybug socks! Look for these fun and exciting ladybug products coming soon!

Ocean City Resort Gift Expo

I am going to the Ocean City Resort Gift Expo this Sunday! I will be on the look out for requested products such as a ladybug umbrella, ladybug floor lamp, ladybug linens, ladybug curtains and more! Wish me luck! And look forward to new and exciting ladybug products coming soon!

Every Grandparents Dilemma

Every grandparents dilemma—if you have a little granddaughter and a little grandson, you can’t buy something for one without buying something for the other one.

When our little grandson was born we thought about how much fun we have had with Madison and introducing her to ladybugs. As we stroll along the Mispillion Riverwalk we love watching the turtles sun bathe on the banks of the river and talked about how turtles might be a nice addition to the shop—thus Ladybug Shop and Turtles Too. We are now actively looking for both ladybug and turtle products as we attend the gift shows.

Our grandson lives in Savannah and we plan to visit soon. You can bet “Granddaddy” will have several packages with cute little turtles to start introducing Dorian to the turtle.

The Three R's

The LadyBug Shop is committed to recycling. If you have received a package in the past from us you will know that most of the time you can see places where we have torn off stickers, or other companies information may be present. It's because we here at the LadyBug Shop abide by the Three R's, Reuse, Reduce, Recycle.
All of the boxes or packing material that we do not use is recycled, and we are asking you to do the same!

Photography for the Website

Having good photos of products is essential, since much of the information customers need is conveyed in this manner. Sometimes our wholesalers will provide product photos, but this is still rare. (It seems that more wholesalers are providing this service as the importance of Internet retailing increases.) I now take our product photos using a Canon PowerShot Pro 1 eight mega pixel digital camera. In addition to its good optics, this camera has a large digital viewer that can fold out and swiveled into almost any position—a helpful feature when using a tripod. The camera also has macro and super macro modes that are essential in taking photos of very small objects such as earrings.

I usually work with the camera mounted on a BOGEN 3021BPRO tripod with a Manfrotto 3275/410 Compact Geared Head with Quick Release. Using a tripod helps in setting up shots and improves the quality of the resulting images. I have learned that it is very important to use a light box for most products so that you have good diffused lighting (provided by two daylight balanced photographic floodlights mounted on stands). I use an EZ Cube studio lighting system which I purchased online at http://www.tabletopstudio.com/.

Altogether all the above equipment cost almost two thousand dollars. But the investment has been well worth it. The first year of taking photos for the LadyBug Shop website I used a Canon PowerShop S30 three mega pixel camera with no tripod or light box. It took me much longer to take product photos and the results were not as good as I now get with better equipment.

I download the images from my camera onto a computer and store them there. I use the free Google photo management software—Picasa—for this purpose. Most of the photos need to be edited in some way—either by being cropped or by making adjustments in brightness and contrast. I purchased one of the most popular digital photo-editing software packages—Microsoft PhotoShop—to do this editing, but I have found that I can usually do everything I need to do using a much simpler software such as the photo editor provided in Microsoft Office.

Our shopping cart software—Store Logic—allows us to upload and insert photos into our catalog via an Internet connection to the computer where the photos are stored. In some cases it is necessary to provide several views of the product, or show different variations or colors of the same product. Store Logic provides this capability.

Ladybug Computer Game

I found a really fun and FREE Ladybug Game that you can play online at http://www.forboredpeople.com/. Put the game on full screen when setting it up, it may look easy at first, but it took me a couple of tries to get past it! The key is not to get in the black, and get your ladybug to the end of the maze! What fun on days when you are in front of the computer, children will love it too! Hope you have fun!

LadyBug Shop Introduces Turtles Too!

LadyBug Shop has decided to introduce a new line of products featuring TURTLES! Look for turtles popping up all across the website, including the full line of Stephen Jospeh Turtles being added next week! Including Turtle Pencils, Turtle Backpacks, Turtle Notepads, Turtle Accessories, and more!

Currently we have a Turtle Holiday Ornament, a Ladybug and Turtle Pin and a Turtle Plush Toy, named Molasses.